Percy Jackson: Back In Time
by Shadeslayers of Chosen Ones
Summary: AU! Percy Jackson has been betrayed by the gods, accused of something he didn't do. He meets Kronos in Tartarus, who shows him that the gods are the baddies here and the titans are the good ones. With Chaos's blessing, Percy has to redo his life, except to destory the corrupt gods and restore the titans to power. Bad!Gods, Good!Titans TimeTravel!
1. Going Back

_**I DO NOT OWN PJO BUT IF I DID, I'D NEVER LET THIS WEBSITE WRITE ANY FANFIC ABOUT THE AMAZING PJO SERIES! (no offence to Fanfiction)**_

My name is Perseus Achilles Jackson. Don't ever call me Perseus or i'll run my sword through your body. Oh wait, i forgot, your a mortal so you can't be harmed by Celestial Bronze. Oh well... As long as you just call me Percy, we're on good terms.

I'm one of the most powerful demigod's ever to live. I'll never admit it, but everyone says so. I don't agree. There's plenty of greater heroes than me. Achilles, the one that my middle name was named after, he died in a battle where he fought valiantly. Perseus, the son of zeus, he was way greater than me.

But being a demigod has it's disadvantages and perks at the same time. ADHD make me dodge attacks on instinct which is really handy in battle, but it's really annoying when your trying to concentrate at school and you can't stop fidgeting. Dyslexia lets me read Ancient Greek, which is fine i guess, it is my ancestor's language after all. Well technically not my ancestor, since it is my father and cousins and uncles and they're like millions of years old yet still not dead because they're immortal. But dyslexia really sucks when your a 'normal' teenage boy and you have to attend English class and read english because all the letters jumble up and they absolutely can't be read.

I was beat up when I was in primary school. Still was in my first year of high school. Grover was my only friend. But he was a freak like me, I guess. Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I got myself into.

Mrs. Dodds, our other school teacher chaperone would give me the evil eye. All the time. From her first day here. For as long as she stayed in the school.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey, " real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

Worst thing happened at lunch when we went on a field trip.

_I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap._

_"Oops. " She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray- painted her face with liquid Cheetos._

_I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears._

_I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"_

_Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us._

_Some of the kids were whispering:_

_"Did you see-"_

_"-the water-"_

_"-like it grabbed her-"_

_I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again._

_As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc. , etc. , Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a tri-umphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"_

_"I know, " I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks. "_

_That wasn't the right thing to say._

_"Come with me, " Mrs. Dodds said._

_"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her. "_

_I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled._

_"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood, " she said._

_"But-"_

_"You-will-stay-here."_

_Grover looked at me desperately._

_"It's okay, man, " I told him. "Thanks for trying. "_

_"Honey, " Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now. "_

_Nancy Bobofit smirked._

_I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on._

_How'd she get there so fast? I had wondered at the time._

_I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things._

_I wasn't so sure._

_I went after Mrs. Dodds._

_Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel._

_I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall of the museum._

_Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop._

_But apparently that wasn't the plan._

_The look in her eyes was beyond mad when I reached her. It was evil._

_She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me._

_Thunder shook the building._

_"We are not fools, Percy Jackson, " Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain. "_

_I didn't know what she was talking about._

_All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book with my dyslexia and all._

_"Well?" she demanded._

_"Ma'am, I don't... "_

_"Your time is up, " she hissed._

_Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons._

_Then things got even stranger._

_Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand._

_"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air._

_I did the only sensible thing. I slashed at it with the sword. I didn't understand what it was. They took me to my mother. Explained everything. The minotaur attacked. It took my mother. But I collapsed, unconsious the very few minutes after. A blonde woman with princessy curls was the last thing I saw._

_When I woke up, I was shown around by the blonde woman who I was introduced as Annabeth._

_Camp was amazing. A demi-god's dream. You see, I had always liked mythology. Sword fighting, all that. When Mr Brunner started sword fighting tournaments, it was sooooo fun. I watched everyone spar and run their swords through dummies, blondies with a bow and arrow, hitting it dead in the centre. I always wondered how they did that. But then I knew. Sons and daughtes of Apollo._

_There were vicious fighters, which i figured would be children of Ares._

_In the middle of Annabeth showing me around, a daughter of Ares picked on me. That resulted in a toilet, water, Clarisse ,which is the daughter of Ares's name, getting soaked and Clarisse promising revenge._

But enough of that, I'll tell you what really happened after I won two wars for them.

* * *

"Jason Grace, my son." Zeus grinned. "I offer you the position as my right hand god. You will be a minor god of air, lightning, storms and birds. You will be Prince of Olympus and the skies. Every bird shall worship your name."

Jason smirked cockily. "I am not honoured, as I deserve this, so I shall accept." Jason had become an arrogant jerk as soon as Gaea was defeated. It seemed like all the fame and glory had gotten into his head.

The gods blasted him with godly energy. After a bright flash of yellow, blue, black, red, orange, and every color imaginable, Jason emerged, unharmed and seemed to radiate an attitude that revealed that he thought that every demigod was inferior to him, and he was the superior. He grinned as he looked at his friends.

"Frank Zhang." Zeus boomed out from his throne. Poseidon, my father, gave me a cold smile. I figured that it didn't really mean anything, he didn't know how to properly take care of demigod children. But it wasn't exactly the smile i was used to.

Ares smiled warmly at his son. His form flickered before settling on a more warlike version of himself, Mars. 'He knows how to smile.' I thought to myself.

"You are offered immortality. You will become a minor god, a minor god of animals, transformation and emotions. You will also be a minor god of war and victory."

"What? I thought I was only getting to become a god!" Jason protested. "They don't deserve it! They just delayed me from actually fighting and winning sooner!"

"They aided you in your fight. They prophecy clearly states that the seven of you could defeat her. TOGETHER. Not just you." Zeus replied.

Frank accepted it with a glare towards Jason. "Only if Hazel can become immortal like me."

"Very well child of Ares."

The same process with Jason happened to Frank. Except Frank radiated an aura that was friendly and inviting but with an edge of ice around it.

"HAZEL LEVESQUE! You are a goddess, as requested by the minor god Frank. So you will have an extra wish." He said, after they had done the same process again to make Hazel a goddess.

"I want to command metals by will, not by emotions." Even as a goddess, she had commanded gold and silver to Olympus unknowingly, beacuse she felt so giddy with excitement.

Zeus waved his hand, and the gold and silver drifted back down as Hazel commanded it to go. "Your wish has been granted. Now, for Piper McClean."

The same thing happened to all but Percy, who was the last person to be called up.

"May everyone except the Olympians leave!" Zeus commanded, it was an order, not a question.

"But father!" Jason cried. "I am your right hand man!"

"LEAVE!" Zeus boomed.

Jason left.

"Perseus Jackson."

"Yes Zeus?"

"You are sentenced to Tartarus for aiding Gaea in the war. You were a spy for Kronos all along, but Luke killed Kronos, so you changed to our side, at least pretended to. Speak your last words, traitor."

"Don't I get a vote?"

Zeus burst out laughing evilly. "We already had one. No one stood up for you, not even your precious father."

"I'm ashamed to call you my son Perseus. You are a disgrace to the Poseidon line. I, Coeus Poseidon, hereby disown Perseus Achilles Jackson from my line. He shall forever more be, a demi mortal. You have no relation to me now, back-stabber.

"Any more last words little demigod?" Zeus asked.

"I hope you rot in hell once you realise that i'm innocent." I spat.

Zeus threw his master bolt at me, and I embraced the darkness that enveloped me.

* * *

Tartarus

As soon as I woke up, I heard a voice hiss angrily, "We should kill the boy! He has destroyed many of us and even you, master. We would feast on his flesh if you allowed us to!"

I could hear the other monsters murmur in agreement. A chimera roared its approval.

"Maybe Medusa, but Jackson has been banished to Tartarus. He wouldn't have just fallen in here. Since Jackson has been banished, I believe that he must have betrayed the gods somehow. If he is innocent, and the gods have made a mistake, then we can bend him to our side. The gods are cruel to us. He will be a formidable enemy to the gods if we convince him to stray to our side." A voice snarled, which I identified as Kronos, King of the Titans.

The other creatures seemed to side with Kronos, revoking their murmurs of agreement with Medusa.

"And if he does not side with us?" Medusa argued angrily. She was used to having her way.

"He will side with us. Especially after i'm done with him."

Medusa snarled but withdrew her arguments.

"Perseus. Perseus. I know you're listening and awake."

I pretended I was still asleep.

"PERSEUS!"

I winced before groaning and attempting to get up. My muscles ached and I collapsed to the ground where I was 'sleeping'.

"Wh-Why are you doing this Kronos?" I croaked. "Why are you so determined to get me on your side?"

"Because you are a dangerous enemy with a sword. You are the best swordsman in centuries, you are a formidable enemy, even without your powers as a son of Poseidon." Kronos answered.

"Then how are you going to get me on your side?" I questioned.

"Leave, everyone." Kronos bellowed, and everyone left, fearing their king's wrath.

"You will have my memories of what the Olympians did, and why I had to do it."

He asked for a titan, Mnemosyne. She helped Kronos transfer the memories, and I let my curiosity take over.

_"As your Sixth Son is born at the stroke of four,_

_Your fate is sealed; you must go to war,_

_We understand that this is abrupt,_

_But your child's lead will be corrupt,_

_Of your child demigods be afraid,_

_And whoever dare defy the gods, will taste your son's blade._

_Your sixth son, you must not aid,_

_Or good's existence will slowly fade._

_Always your children will be born at four,_

_Get rid of them before they declare war."_

The fates prophesised to Kronos.

_"Rhea, my darling, I'm so sorry that I have to do this. Our rule will fade into history if our children take over. Please my love, forgive me." Kronos said, as he moved to swallow the first child hesitantly. "If you can hear me young one, I name you Hestia. You are our hope and joy, but it seems that I must do this, for fear that corruption will lead the world into evil."_

Kronos swallowed his first child.

_"I name you Hades. Second son of the second rulers. Two represents death and wealth."_

And Kronos swallowed the second child.

_"I name you Hera, as a symbol of Rhea and I's marriage, we got married on the 3rd of March, the third day of the third month. I am sorry Hera, but I must do this."_

And so, Kronos took Hera into his mouth, and began to swallow.

_"I name you Poseidon, the most powerful sired, as on the fourth day, the fourth hour, the fourth child. You will become powerful, my child. I do not believe you will become corrupt like the sixth son that I will sire, but the fates have commanded me to do this. I am sorry."_

Kronos had tears in his eyes and his hands shook as he stretched his mouth open to consume the baby.

_"I name you Demeter, fifth of the sixth. You will be caring but dangerous as you grow older, because you will be able to control nature, and will be in harmony with it, all animals will heed your call. It pains me to do this my child, but the Fates have commanded, and I must obey."_

Kronos predicted her future, and so dearly hoped that she was as he predicted, caring but dangerous when provoked.

_"I name you Zeus, the corrupt of the corrupt. Evil lies in your destiny and you will be a corrupt ruler. I wish that I did not have to do this, but I suppose I have the decency to name you, after all, you are evil." _

The last baby seemed harder than the others, but he paid no attention to it.

The memory shifted to when Zeus confronts Kronos.

_"I hope you rot in Tartarus father. You don't deserve the title of king. Not after eating my siblings. Any last words?"_

_"Son, I'm sorry for eating them. The fates said I had to." Kronos said truthfully._

__"We all know that's bullshit."__

And Zeus stabbed him with is own scythe. Behind Zeus were all the current existing gods, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Hestia, all wielding their weapons.

Kronos disinegrated.

_"It is our rule now! Who shall be king?"_

_"ZEUS WILL BE!" They all decided._

Percy was in tears as soon as the memories cleared and his tears blurred his sight.

"I will join you Kronos." Kronos looked up.

"You will?"

"I will." Percy confirmed.

A flash of light erupted from the corner of the room.

"Finally!" The fates chorused. "You. Come here Perseus Jackson."

I walked over, confused.

"I need to bless you. You'll be blessed by Chaos soon, but that's all the help that he's gonna give you and Kronos here will transport you back in time, with all your memories intact, won't you Kronos?" They turned their stare onto Kronos.

"Yes, Yes." Kronos gulped.

The fates blessed me, one by one.

"CHAOS!"

A black hole erupted near the centre of the room. A black bolt struck me, faster than my eyes could comprehend. I felt power course through my body, and Kronos headed over to me.

"Please Perseus, make everything right. Be a superhero for us. Back to the day you went to camp, is the farthest I can go, so you'll have to destroy the gods from that time. Please Perseus. I beg of you, help us." Kronos touched my forehead, and I went spinning out of control.


	2. Minotaur and Camp

**Should Grover turn to Percy's side? What should the pairing be? I'm headed for Percy/Themis, and** **Themis is the Titaness/Titanide of justice and order.**

"Grover, what do you think of the Greek Gods?" I asked, surprising Grover.

"Wha- What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you think of the Greek Gods?"

I'm on the bus, going home. I smirked at the thought of seeing Smelly Gabe, I had plans for him. My mother. She always stood by me. I wonder what she'll think when I tell her that I come from the future, the gods are terrible and the titans are good.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts, that I almost didn't hear Grover's reply of, "I think they're nice."

"NICE? NICE? Look at what Athena did to Arachne because of her jealousy!"

"A-Ara-Arachne thought herself better than the gods!" Grover stuttered nervously.

"And to think what she did to Medusa because she was taken forcefully by Poseidon! And Medusa prayed to her for help!" I hissed angrily.

"T-th-tha-that's not what the goddess said." Grover continued to stutter, giving away the fact that Athena was real.

"Goddess said? You mean they're real? Greek Myths are real?" I asked, faking surprise.

Grover flinched. "No!" He denied quickly.

"You're a terrible liar Grover. I figured that out a while ago. You start sweating and you shake furiously." I shook my head, as if disappointed. "Your trying to lie to me Grover. And I don't like it."

Grover recomposed himself and again, denied that the gods are real. Thunder clapped furiously in the distance, but no clouds were in the sky. It was still a clear sunny day.

"I'm leaving. Going to a camp." I scared Grover for a minute.

"Wha? What camp?" He looked at me sadly.

"A summer camp." Grover looked a bit hopeful at that.

"At Lo- Oh! I need to go to the toilet. Wait for me Percy." He looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Okay."

Grover and I got off at the next stop. To his horror, he saw three old women in a house, knitting a giant sock.

"Perce- Percy, please tell me that those women aren't looking at you."

"The women aren't looking at me." I complied.

"Don't joke around Percy. They're looking at me now!" Grover shook fearfully and his eyes watered.

The fates turned their attention back to me. They brought out an electric blue thread and with a giant click, they cut the thread.

"No. This is not happening, " Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time. "

"What last time?"

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth. Never past 6th grade. Never past 6th grade. Thalia didn't, what makes me think that he would?" He stared at me mournfully, as if he was thinking about which flowers to put on my grave.

"Percy. Go back on the bus. Back on the bus Percy." Grover ordered with a shaky voice.

I ignored him, as if I didn't hear his words. I walked towards the fates, and greeted them friendly.

"Hello Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. What brings you here?"

"Perseus. Danger lies before you, but you must help the one you swore to help. Aether knows about this, and he is as corrupt as the current rulers. He will try to stop you. Even we are bound my the Laws and we defy the laws of Chaos to tell you this. Please do not let this be in vain." And they disappeared with a flash of light.

"Percy! Percy! Do you know what happened?" Grover asked curiously.

"Aether is corrupt. He is dangerous. Laws of Chaos. Danger. Stop me. IMPOSSIBLE!" I muttered, all except the last one, which I shouted, and Grover yelped in surprise.

"Why'd you shout like that bro? And what's so impossible? What happened here anyway?" Grover played dumb. "Gods, he's ignorant.." Grover mumbled inaudibly.

"Nothing." I lied.

Grover seemed to accept it, but he looked at me suspiciously.

"Let's go Grover."

"M'kay." Grover complied and called for a taxi.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

"Hey! That's the camp I'm going to!" I exclaimed happily before going into the taxi, Grover following.

"Destination?" A rough voice came from the driver's seat.

"Empire State Building please, East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I was polite, cause you never know when you need a taxi.

"That would be 142 dollars."

I handed him half, and said, "When we get there, I'll pay the other 71 dollars."

He nodded before heading off to the building.

* * *

After a while, the taxi arrived in front of the empire state building. I gave him 75 dollars and told him to keep the change. He thanked me and drove off with Grover.

I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home. "

"Where's my mom?"

"Working, " he said. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret. " Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.

"I don't have any cash, " I told him.

He raised a greasy eyebrow.

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.

"You took a taxi from the bus station, " he said. "Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this room so he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe, " he said. "The kid just got here. "

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.

"Fine, " I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose. "

"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"

I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study. " He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. It was time to deal with Gabe.

Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"

She opened the bedroom door, and my anger melted.

My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.

"Oh, Percy. " She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples, " the way she always did when I came home.

We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about me getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?

I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"

I gritted my teeth. My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

"Let me handle this mom."

"Don't do anything too harsh Percy."

"Hmm... Maybe, maybe not. Would disappearing into thin air be so harsh?" I asked.

"No, but you can't make him disappear Percy."

"Just watch me."

My mom followed me out.

"Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?" He growled.

I looked around, it seemed that all of his friends had left.

I concentrated, feeling the hate bubbling inside of me and the anger. I focused on Gabe's body and felt the tiny water molecules that formed his body as a human. I called to them, "Get out of his body, Get out of his body and go to the sea, where you can be free." I chanted in my mind. Almost immediately, I felt no water emitting from Gabe at all. I couldn't even feel Gabe's blood. I looked at the spot where Gabe once stood, and instead of the dead body I was expecting, there was just thin air. I felt shaky. I could use my powers, but it would leave me weak.

"What? Percy, how did you do that?"

"I knew about my powers mom. I've been training in secret. It's what children of Poseidon can do!" I scared the crap out of mom.

"Percy! When? Did any monsters attack? Gabe was to hide your scent, but I guess he isn't needed anymore."

"A fury attacked at school. Said something about the master bolt."

"Fury? Hades knows. Hades knows. Hades knows that you're a son of Poseidon. This is bad. We have to get you to Camp Half-Blood right away." She totally ignore the 'master bolt' bit.

"Lets take Gabe's Camaro there." I told her. We headed outside, got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.

We took a break at Montauk beach, since we haven't been there for a long time because of Gabe's insisting of not enough money.

I loved the place.

We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.

As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.

We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

I guess I should explain the blue food.

See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought

blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than call-ing herself Mrs. Ugliano-was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.

When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.

* * *

That night I had a vivid dream.

It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuck-led somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's

wide eyes, and I screamed, No!

I woke with a start.

Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane. "

I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have for-gotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice, someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... He wasn't exactly Grover.

My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

"It's behind us!"

She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"

Grover ran for the Camaro.

We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind-shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.  
All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... Know each other?" I pretened.

Graver's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly, " he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you. "

"Watching me?"

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't

faking being your friend, " he added hastily. "I am your friend. "

"Urn ... What are you, exactly?" I lied being ignorant.

"That doesn't matter right now. "

"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"

Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"

"Goat!" he cried.

"What?"

"I'm a goat from the waist down. "

"You just said it didn't matter."

"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"

"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"

"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"

"Of course. "

"Then why-"

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract, " Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are. "

"But I already knew."

The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.

"Percy, " my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety. "

"Safety from what? Who's after me?"

"Oh, nobody much, " Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions. "

"Grover!"

"Sorry, Mrs Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"  
My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.

She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark flutter-ing shape now lost behind us in the storm.

"What was that?" I asked.

"We're almost there, " my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please. "

I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.  
Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings.

She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.

Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... And the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.

I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.

I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow. "

"Percy!" my mom shouted.

"I'm okay... . "

I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.

Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"

He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!

Then he groaned "Food, " and I knew there was hope.  
"Percy, " my mother said, "we have to ... " Her voice faltered.

I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.

I swallowed hard. "Who is-"

"Percy, " my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car. "

My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.

"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"

"What?"

Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

"That's the property line, " my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door. "

"Mom, you're coming too. "

Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.  
"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover. "

"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.

The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... Was his head. And the points that looked like horns ...

"He doesn't want us, " my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line. "

"But... "

"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please. "  
I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom. "

"I told you-"

"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover. "

I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, draging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist- high grass.

Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under-wear-I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms-which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and- white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.

I recognized the monster, all right.

_The Minotaur_

I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"

"Pasiphae's son, " my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you. "

"But he's the Min-"

"Don't say his name, " she warned. "Names have power. "

The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least.

I glanced behind me again.  
The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the win-dows-or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuz-zling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.

"Food?" Grover moaned.

"Shhh, " I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"

"His sight and hearing are terrible, " she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough. "

As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank

exploded.  
"Percy, " my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"How do you know all this?"

"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me. "

"Keeping me near you? But-"  
Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.

He'd smelled us.

The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.

The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.

My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said. "

I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.

He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.

The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.

The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bel-lowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward

my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.

We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.

The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.

"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"

But then I remembered. I had gone back in time. I still had my powers. I could still use them. I focused on the rain and the water attacked the Minotaur. With a flash of bright yellow light, it was destroyed, yellow dust drifting off in the wind.

The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. I was weak, I wasn't used to the strain that my powers gave me. My head felt like it was splitting open.

I wanted to lie down, and just rest for a few moments, so that's exactly what I did. Then I remembered Grover, so I managed to haul him to camp and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house.

The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of Chiron and Annabeth. They both looked down at me, and Annabeth said, "He's the one. He must be. "

"Silence, Annabeth, " the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside. "

* * *

**A/N, there you go, Percy's back at Camp, Mother is saved, Grover is okay, He meets Chiron and Annabeth. **

**Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are welcome! ****Constructive Criticism is always appreciated!**

**Signing off,**

**Shadeslayer Of Chosen Ones**


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